[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (21)

** [1] ** [EN] Thanks to Google, many are those who land on MunteanUK looking for information about life in... England (rarely Scotland or the UK in general). [RO] Datorită lui Google, mulţi sunt aceia care aterizează pe  MunteanUK căutând informaţii despre viaţa în... Anglia (rar Scoţia sau UK în general).

** [2] ** [EN] What they find here is rather scarce and irrelevant, while many of my views are surely unpopular. [RO] Ceea ce găsesc aici este mai degrabă sporadic şi irelevant, în timp ce multe dintre părerile mele sunt sigur nepopulare.

** [3] ** [EN] In order to atone for creating false expectations, I selected these websites – click on the five figures on the left! [RO] Pentru a-mi ispăşi crearea de aşteptări false, am selectat aceste siteuri – click pe cele cinci cifre din stânga!

** [4] ** [EN] They answer to most questions on the ‘Romanians in the UK’ topic, with lots of honestly reported experiences. [RO] Ele răspund la cele mai multe întrebări pe subiectul ‘români în UK’, cu multe experienţe onest relatate.

** [5] ** [EN] The only warning I give is that the outlook on Great Britain is – take it both for the better or the worse of the meaning – very Romanian. [RO] Singurul avertisment pe care îl dau este că perspectiva asupra Marii Britanii este – luaţi-o deoportivă în sensul mai bun sau mai rău al înţelesului – foarte românească.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (16)

[EN] Honest and well-written confessions about living and working in the UK can be read on this blog. [RO] Mărturisiri sincere şi bine scrise despre traiul şi munca în UK pot fi citite pe acest blog.

[EN] Some views are similar to mine, some may differ (here + here), anyway, I fully recommend reading them. [RO] Unele opinii sunt similare alor mele, unele pot diferi (aici + aici), oricum, recomand pe deplin citirea lor.

[EN] This Romanian woman has been living in Northampton (East Midlands, England) for less than a year [RO] Această româncă locuieşte în Northampton (East Midlands, Anglia) de mai puţin de un an.

[EN] She has a keen sense of observation, plus the courage and determination that every emigrant (albeit temporary) needs. [RO]Are un ascuţit simţ al observaţiei, plus curajul şi hotărârea necesare oricărui emigrant (deşi temporar).

[EN] There could be only one little reason of discontent – although the author is perfectly bilingual, the blog is 99% written in Romanian :-( [RO] Ar putea fi doar un mic motiv de nemulţumire – deşi autoarea e perfect bilingvă, blogul e 99% scris în română.

[EN] I wish that some Britons could see themselves in the mirror of this blog, as they can sometimes see themselves in mine or in this one! :-) [RO] Aş vrea ca unii britanici să se vadă în oglinda acestui blog, precum se pot vedea într-al meu sau în acesta! :-)

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Worth trying in the UK / [RO] Merită încercat în UK (20)

[EN] It’s been almost five years since I stopped watching TV; I do it only accidentally, urged by someone. [RO] Au trecut aproape cinci ani de când am încetat să mă uit la televizor; o fac doar accidental, îndemnat de cineva.

[EN] Still, I sometimes happen to do it voluntarily when I am abroad, curious to know “what’s on TV” in a particular country. [RO] Totuşi, uneori se întâmplă să o fac în mod voluntar când sunt peste hotare, curios să văd “ce este la TV” într-o anume ţară.

[EN] It was not in the UK, but in Brussels – where I’ve been to 8 times – where I discovered EastEnders. [RO] Nu în UK, ci în Bruxelles – unde am fost de 8 ori – am descoperit EastEnders.

[EN] Not that I liked it and I’d be ‘crazy about it’… but I understood why this series (soap opera) is so popular. [RO] Nu că mi-ar fi plăcut şi aş fi ‘nebun după el’… dar am înţeles de ce acest serial (soap opera) este atât de popular.

[EN] I recommend watching a few episodes, in order to get a more or less comprehensive perspective upon British society today. [RO] Recomand vizionarea câtorva episoade, pentru a căpăta o perspectivă mai mult sau mai puţin cuprinzătoare asupra societăţii britanice de azi.

[EN] Most contemporary British realities, including politically correct clichés, are present there. [RO] Cele mai multe realităţi britanice contemporane, inclusiv clişee corecte politic, sunt prezente acolo.

[EN] Watching it won’t be a great ‘aesthetical experience’, however,  for the keen onlooker, it can reveal the moral impasse of Great Britain. [RO] A-l urmări nu va fi vreo mare ‘experienţă estetică’, totuşi, telespectatorului avizat îi poate revela impasul moral al Marii Britanii.

[EN] Characters are often as shallow, irreligious, amoral as most ordinary Britons are today. [RO] Personajele sunt adesea la fel de superficiale, nereligioase, amorale precum sunt cei mai mulţi britanici obişnuiţi de astăzi.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (15)

[EN] For interesting views about the UK and shared experiences, I recommend these blogs of some Romanian students. [RO] Pentru opinii interesante despre UK şi experienţe împărtăşite, recomand aceste bloguri ale unor studente românce.

[EN] Coming from Dâmboviţa county, one is now in Birmingham, where she studies Human Resource Management. [RO] Venind din judeţul Dâmboviţa, una este acum în Birmingham, unde studiază Managementul Resurselor Umane.

[EN] She seems to be Agnostic or Deist – “God is pure energy,” she believes. [RO] Pare să fie agnostică sau deistă – “Dumnezeu e pură energie”, crede ea.

[EN] On her bilingual blog, she’s generally happy about most things: her professors, her interactions with locals, British trains, student life… [RO] Pe blogul ei bilingv, pare în general fericită în legătură cu cele mai multe lucruri: profesorii ei, interacţiunile cu localnicii, trenurile britanice, viaţa studenţească…

[EN] The other comes from Bucovina, now studying Art History in Manchester, and she’s an Orthodox believer. [RO] Cealaltă vine din Bucovina, studiind acum Istoria Artei în Manchester şi este o credincioasă ortodoxă.

[EN] She appears to be more than a ‘theoretical Christian’, attending services and exploring Orthodox life in UK, just as I did.  [RO] Pare să fie mai mult decât un ‘creştin teoretic’, participând la slujbe şi explorând viaţa ortodoxă în UK, cum am făcut şi eu.

[EN] On her Romanian blog, she has a less flattering image of life in Great Britain. At times, she even beats my bluntest views :-) [RO] Pe blogul ei în română, are o imagine mai puţin flatantă despre viaţa în Marea Britanie. Uneori, depăşeşte opiniile mele cele mai făţişe :-)

[EN] She’s not delighted with her professors, British banks, her interactions with locals, nor with the spiritual void in this humanist society. [RO] Nu este încântată de profesorii ei, băncile britanice, interacţiunile ei cu localnici, nici de vidul spiritual din această societate umanistă.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (12)

[EN] I don’t know her, not even as ‘online acquaintance’ – but this won’t prevent me from recommending her bilingual blog. [RO] Nu o cunosc, nici măcar drept o ‘cunoştinţă online’ – dar aceasta nu o să mă împiedice să recomand blogul ei bilingv.

[EN] An interesting reading for anyone who wants to get another view, apart from my unconventional one, about life in the UK. [RO] O lectură interesantă pentru cine vrea altă perspectivă, în afara celei neconvenţionale a mea, despre viaţa în UK.

[EN] She posts rarely, but good stories: about giving birth to a daughter in the UK, a picnic in London, snow in Great Britain etc. [RO] Postează rar, dar poveşti bune: despre naşterea unei fiice în UK, un picnic în London, zăpada în Marea Britanie etc.

[EN] I’d say that some professional issues are also worth reading: about team buildings or social media. [RO] Aş zice că nişte chestii profesionale merită citite, de asemenea: despre team building-uri sau social media.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Witty bits from what I learned in the UK (15) [Vorbe de duh din ce am învăţat în UK]

“If someone comes to an exam and writes what I taught him, I will fail him. I don’t want to be told the things I know” – this was, in a nutshell, the philosophy of the British education system, shared by a SEI professor.

Obviously, there’s a continuation – the student is supposed to have read throughly a certain list of books, and then be able to write essays making connections between the things read – but that was the essential part.

Unlike in the Romanian system (originally of French inspiration), students in the UK will not be asked to reproduce memorized data and facts, but to prove their obtained knowledge through a more or less practical exercise.

Writing about something (in order to prove one’s grasp of a certain topic) it’s not the same thing as reproducing it. Therefore, very much different from Romania, British professors are not so obsessed with catching their students cheating.

You simply can’t write an essay and can’t express your view on something you haven’t read before the exam. Even if you had at least a dozen books on your desk during the examination, you couldn’t search for the specific information, nor process it.

Thanks to this philosophy, the higher education system of the UK is one of the things I liked best about this country. Too bad that younger Brits are now in schools that are in an appalling mess after 13 years of New Labour ‘progressive’ reign.

However, I think that British universities will maintain their supremacy in the EU for a long time from now. Be it only because of the English language’s prominence, but also because most French academic institutions are rotten with a bad phisosophy.

If only this sickening political correctness that is creeping into everything ‘sane’ and ‘decent’ in the UK wouldn’t spoil the good things about British universities! Real scientific truths (not those fabricated by ideologies) couldn’t be born in an Orwellian Britain!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Could the sun shine again over the UK? [Ar putea străluci soarele din nou peste UK?]

This blog makes no secret that I consider the New Labour rule of the UK a complete mess, a moral catastrophe degrading many things which were once decent, civil, and pleasant in Britain, and made this country a good example to other nations.

It’s just the opinion of a foreigner, therefore subjective, biased, exaggerated. Let alone ungrateful, as it was a Labour government in charge when I was awarded a Chevening Fellowship, lived in the country for a while, met so many people…

And also, started this MunteanUK blogging project – I avoid calling it simply a blog, because it is not a typical diary, and I keep dreaming of the day when more people, apart from my few constant readers, will bring their contribution to it.

Now, I would be pretty naive to believe that David Cameron & Nick Clegg will deliver the ‘big change’ they promised, nevertheless, after their first 100 days in power I choose to remain rather optimistic.

Any little change (such as this one) for the UK was better than what the New Labour had become, as any change would have been better for Romania in December 2009, had Traian Băsescu not been reelected.

As this article puts it, “the coalition is neither a Tory government nor a Lib Dem government”; both parties have managed to push through some dear measures, both scrapped others, and Clegg plays down the fears of a coalition break-up.

While the British economy remains in dire straits – a threat that could jeopardize any reform – maybe even the mostly cordial relations between Cameron & Clegg are but a similar situation to the Phoney war of September 1939 – March 1940, some calm before the storm.

What’s wrong with merely hoping that things could go well? On paper, this Big Society that Cameron envisions looks attractive enough. He wants some fairly decent things that I’d personally like to see in any society:

[1] more powers to communities, but critics say that it only means the cease of funding from London, so that many local structures could be left to distintegrate on their own, unassisted; :-(

[2] people encouraged to take an active role in their communities;

[3] transfer of power from central to local government (weren’t Labour promising the same thing back in 1997?!);

[4] support co-operatives, mutuals, charities and social enterprises;

[5] the release of government data.

Having no problem with these ideals per se, I believe that today’s British society lacks the moral backbone neeeded to put them into practice. How could people be encouraged to take an active role, as long as they have been hardwired to live on state handouts?

Will such a Big Society make up for the loss of personality of the perfect politically correct citizen meant to be ruled by Big Brother? Apart from a few NGOs, how many ordinary British citizens care about government data?

There are many similar doubts I could raise; the most serious one is that no society can redeem itself, unless people have changed their hearts and views of the world. For the time being, thank God that New Labour is gone.

However, the moral climate in the country is as degraded as T. Bliar & G. Clown have left it; people don’t know where they are coming from, nor where they are going to, and rare are those who have a meaning of life other than having fun, here and now.

Like those fooled by Băsescu in Romania, over 95% of the Brits probably want nothing else apart from “living well,” ignorant of the fact that what they call life is but a passing shadow compared to the true afterlife.

Can any substantial change – influencing not only the economic situation of people, here and now, but their salvation – occur in any human society, be it British or Romanian, from where the Maker of all things visible and invisible has been banished?

No, I’m afraid no such change is possible. Cameron & Clegg may want to safeguard the economic comfort of their citizens, and save some money for this heavily-indebted British State, yet they cannot save souls, as no other government can.

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (13) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

Throughout the previous 223 posts of this blog there were many little stories of mine + comments where I and my readers made (not necessarily programatic) attempts to offer some insights about how the truly British are.

Of course, there’s no way I could claim that we could have drawn an exhaustive general picture of the Brits on a blog. Nevertheless, one of my claims was that motorists in this country appear to love German cars, as these pictures show.

It seems I wasn’t wrong at least on this one. If we were to give credit to what I accidentally read on this website, the British love for German cars is a particular feature of this nation. I came across this definition of Britishness:

“Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.”

Then the little joke (taken from here) adds: “And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign.”

There’s little doubt that the national British manufacturing industry is in dire straits – as long as even an iconic car brand like the Mini was taken over by the Germans! – but are the Brits really suspicious about anything foreign?!

According to my personal experience, I’d say that the Brits are more open to experiencing anything foreign than most other European nations, and also more tolerant than others to anything alien, unusual, and even bizzare.

Why is it that some believe the opposite? Are the Brits suspicious of foreign stuff? Or is this because they are suspicious of everything, including themselves? God willing, maybe I’ll have some comments on this topic!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (7)

[EN] On my fifth day in the UK (and my second day of blogging :-), I met this Romanian actor who was far from having any spectacular job. [RO] În a cincea mea zi în UK (şi a doua de bloggereală :-), l-am cunoscut pe acest actor român care era departe de a avea o slujbă spectaculoasă.

[EN] He was rather disappointed with what he had left behind in Romania and delighted with the openness and civility/courtesy of the British society… [RO] Era mai degrabă dezamăgit de ceea ce lăsase înapoi în România şi încântat de deschiderea şi politeţea/curtoazia societăţii britanice...

[EN] …but the prospects of an acting career were not so clear back then. [RO] ...dar perspectivele unei cariere actoriceşti nu era atât de limpezi pe atunci.

[EN] Today, his site that I’m recommending now proves that he’s seen his dream come true – to perform on stage in London. [RO] Astăzi, siteul lui pe care îl recomand acum dovedeşte că şi-a văzut visul împlinit – să joace pe o scenă din Londra.

[EN] May Archangel Michael (whom we celebrate today), always give courage and determination to the main character of this blog post… [RO] Fie ca Arhanghelui Mihail (pe care îl celebrăm azi) să-i dea întotdeauna curaj şi hotărâre personajului principal din această postare…

[EN] …both on stage and in the everyday life in the UK, as it may be ‘nice’ to live in this country, but definitely not effortless! [RO] …deopotrivă pe scenă şi în viaţa de zi cu zi în UK!, căci o fi ‘drăguţ’ să trăieşti în ţara aceasta, dar categoric nu fără efort!

[EN] We wouldn’t have any kind of ‘successes’, if it weren’t from the Lord to grant them to us. [RO] N-am avea niciun fel de ‘succese’, dacă n-ar fi ca Domnul să ni le ofere.

[EN] We all – as ephemeral actors on life’s stage – should never forgot this! [RO] Noi toţi – ca actori vremelnici pe scena vieţii – n-ar trebui să uităm aceasta!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Is the UK such a bad place to live in? [Este UK un loc atât de rău în care să trăieşti?]

According to a study made by these guys, the answer to the title-question is obviously positive, and there are at least nine European countries (why precisely nine or why so few?!) where it’s better to live than in Britain.

I guess it’s not a surprise that, time and again, France it’s not simply ahead of Britain. Once more, the ‘bloody French’ are number one; they have the best quality of life, compared to all EU’s big nations.

If France’s leading place isn’t a surprise, some of the other countries where life appears to be better than in the UK could twist the knife in some proud Britons’ wounded egos…

This is the list: 1. France, 2. Spain, 3. Denmark, 4. Netherlands, 5. Germany, 6. Poland, 7. Italy, 8. Sweden, 9. Ireland, and… 10. UK.

How much better can life be in the Eastern lands of Germany? Isn’t Spain’s economic boom over, and the unemployment rate increasing rapidly? Doesn’t Italy have one of the weakest economies in the Euro Zone? Or what about the poor Poles who were flocking to Britain until a year ago?

Questions like the above are irrelevant, as long as, according to 17 factors – among which: net income, taxes, the cost of essential goods, working hours, holiday entitlement, life expectancy – the life of Brits is of a poorer quality than that of other nine nations in the UE (which have a total population of some 250 million).

What’s really sad is the fact that the UK had the highest net household income – £ 35,730 a year, more than £ 10,000 above the European average – but to no avail. Money simply makes no positive difference.

“There is more to good living than money and this report shows why so many Brits are giving up on the UK and heading to France and Spain”, someone from the company issuing the survey says.

Big money, biggger problems, therefore a much more complicated and unsatisfying life for many Brits. Would this be a correct diagnosis?

Most of these quality of life surveys suck, as they reduce the human to a consumer (not a soul), but there must be some truth in this one. The Brits have been earning more than many other Europeans for the past decade or so, yet this brought little – if any whatsoever! – ‘good’ in their lives.

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Witty bits from what I learned in the UK (10) [Vorbe de duh din ce am învăţat în UK]

One of the most surprising things that ‘struck’ me in the UK was to witness how many French people live there. Every 15-20 minutes I could hear people speak French on the busy streets of London.

I liked that because, everywhere the Lord may bless me to go, I try my best to practice also my French, which needs considerably more improvement than my English ...and let this not be understood as a claim that I would speak + write faultless English.

Of course, I was expecting to hear people speaking Polish around me, other Eastern-European languages, as well as Arabic or Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Sinhala – no that I could tell the difference between these :-) – but not so much French as I did hear!

Then, I would learn that if all the French people living in London were gathered in one city, it would be among the first most populous 12 urban centres of France. There are at least as many (if not even more!) French people living in London than in Le Havre or Reims (a ranking by population of France’s cities – here).

According to a NYTimes article from 2008, there are 180,000 French residents in London, not mere tourists as I imagined or like the one I talked to on Oxford Street. And – possibly to my friend’s dismay :-) – I must state that most of these French people seemed to enjoy being in the UK.

They were economic immigrants who – unlike the Huguenots some hundred years ago, fleeing Catholic persecution in France – came to the UK for one main reason: to be able to work more, therefore earn more!

I guess they were the ones to whom Nicolas Sarkozy promised the chance to work more, which the French system didn’t allow… and his reforms of the working hours are still far from being accomplished two years after he took office.

Two of these French people working in a French-style bakery, and in a 4-star hotel restaurant can be seen in these pictures, which I took during their working hours. They had both arrived to Brighton, by no means because of the French Protestant Church there, but for better paid jobs.

At least from what polite answers they could give in a few minutes of chatting with a curious blogger like I am – and some people know that I do like to chat with strangers, and I especially liked it with the purpose of blogging about the UK, and exchanging views about this country with fellow foreigners :-) –, they gave me the impression of being quite happy with their decision to work in the UK.

None had clear plans about how much they would stay in this country, but they said that working in the UK helps them save some money, Brighton offers a fascinating multicultural experience (unlike many dull provincial cities in their home country), and the girl also gave me a secondary reason for being in the UK.

It’s a reason that many Britons – who generally speak no foreign language, while some foreign students end up speaking a more comprehensible & grammatically correct language than the average Brit – could take into consideration. Well, this French girl said to me that she took a job here in order to improve her English!

I hope I’m not offending anyone, but I find it hard to imagine a Brit going to Greece, Spain, Portugal, let alone France… in order to learn that country’s language :-( With the exception of my atypical British friend, it’s harder and harder to see a British youngster going abroad these days for anything else than booze, promiscuous sex, wild partying…

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (6)

[EN] Even though the author deems her blog boring (and how else could be the story of a hard-working student – future corporate woman?! :-), I draw my readers’ attention to some positive aspects of it. [RO] Chiar dacă autoarea îşi consideră blogul plictisitor (şi cum altfel ar putea fi povestea unei studente harnice – viitoare corporatistă?! :-), atrag atenţia cititorilor mei asupra unor aspecte pozitive de-ale sale.

[EN] After all, I am at least trying not to write about crap here, am I not? Therefore, if anyone want to find out things about steps to take, procedures, preparations etc for going to the UK for university studies, click here. [RO] La urma urmelor, încerc măcar să nu despre porcării aici, nu-i aşa? Aşadar, dacă cineva doreşte să afle chestii despre paşi de urmat, proceduri, pregătiri etc, pentru a merge în UK la studii universitare, click aici.

[EN] A firsthand source of information, which I’m sure could be more useful than the bunch of opinions which I’m spilling here. I was only a privileged guest of the British Government, not a real student! [RO] O sursă de informaţii la prima mână, despre care sunt sigur că ar putea fi mai folositoare decât grămada de opinii pe care le vărs aici. Eu n-am fost decât un musafir privilegiat al Guvernului britanic, nu un student adevărat!

[EN] Furthermore, I recommend this blog to anyone curious about how a Romanian woman is living in the UK (while studying in Manchester), what she likes and dislikes, what she finds interesting or not, or about the fascinating things (not for me thanks!) she’s studing. [RO] În plus, recomand acest blog oricui este curios despre cum trăieşte o româncă în UK (în timp ce studiază la Manchester) ce îi place şi nu-i place, ce găseşte interesant şi ce nu sau despre chestiile fascinante (nu pentru mine, mulţumesc!) pe care le studiază.

[EN] I’m rarely enthusiastic about the countless blogs about here and now (depicting images of this secular world whose all purposes end in the grave), but I am always glad to notice someone seeing things beyond the immediate reality. [RO] Rareori mă entuziasmez de nenumăratele bloguri despre aici şi acum (descriind imagini din această lume seculară ale cărei scopuri se termină la mormânt), dar sunt întotdeauna bucuros să observ pe cineva care vede lucrurile dincolo de realitatea imediată.

[EN] From this perspective, it’s interesting what this girl writes (here): To get mad = to punish yourself for someone else’s stupidity. She’s perfectly right, isn’t she? [RO] Din această perspectivă, este interesant ce scrie această fată (aici): A te enerva = a te pedepsi pentru prostia altora. Are perfectă dreptate, nu-i aşa?

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Hail to competing sites / [RO] Salutări siteurilor concurente (5)

[EN] Even if it’s written just (for now or forever?!) in Romanian, I fell I have to draw attention to this blog, at least to show again that I am not afraid of ‘blogging rivals’ :-) [RO] Chiar dacă este scris doar (pentru acum sau întotdeauna?!) în română, simt că trebuie să atrag atenţia către acest blog, cel puţin pentru a arăta din nou că nu mă tem de ‘rivali într-ale blogging-ului’ :-)

[EN] On the contrary, I think that the more alternative views about the UK appear online (two Romanian perspectives in this case), the better it is for anyone trying to understand the Brits. [RO] Dimpotrivă, cred că pe cât apar online mai multe păreri alternative despre UK (două perspective româneşti în acest caz), cu atât este mai bine pentru oricine încearcă să-i înţeleagă pe britanici.

[EN] Then, how could I possibly not mention the blog of my successor as Chevening Fellow from Romania at the SEI, and not wish her all the best? [RO] Apoi, cum se făcea să nu fi menţionat blogul succesoarei mele ca Chevening Fellow din România la SEI?

[EN] The impressive number of posts, and the variety of topics (mostly related to Foreign/European Affairs) amazes me and reminds me of the time I started blogging… as a Chevening Fellow. [RO] Numărul impresionant de postări şi varietatea temelor (cele mai multe legate de Afaceri Internaţionale/Europene) mă uimeşte şi îmi aminteşte de vremea când începeam eu blogging-ul, ca Chevening Fellow.

[EN] For those who can’t understand Romanian, maybe you’ll like the pictures on this blog, as I hope you like those on my site. Anyway, I’m glad to see another photoholic :-) online… [RO] Pentru cei care nu înţelegeţi româna, poate vă vor plăcea fotografiile de pe acest blog, după cum sper că vă plac cele de pe site-ul meu. Oricum, mă bucur să văd alt photoholic :-) online...

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Femeile în UK (10) [Women in the UK]

Pe cât de romantică era viziunea mea despre femeile care citesc (lucru despre care am mai mai pomenit aici), evident că la fel de romantic mă uitam şi la vreo fată care scrie. Important este să fie altceva decât SMS-uri sau integrame, pentru ca eu să pot face conexiunea romantică: aha, dacă scrie, înseamnă că şi citeşte, aşadar are şi un sufleţel minunat.

Ce nătăfleţ pot fi, nu? Şi ce naiv poate fi oricine se ia după indicii exterioare (de orice fel ar fi), pentru a emite judecăţi de valoare, precum cele de mai jos, care introduc în categorii atât de aproximative imaginile de mai jos. Să nu mai zic că viaţa (aşa cum este rânduită de Dumnezeu) bate filmul (inclusiv al lumii virtuale în care petrec atâtea ore pe zi, ca om lipit de un computer).

Oricât am străbătut eu lumea într-o veşnică dipoziţie romantică, zicându-mi mereu că “aici am s-o găsesc pe cea unică pentru mine”, se pare că, prin minunea Domnului, ea se afla la mai puţin de un kilometru de casa mea.

Însă drumul până când sufletele noastre să fie la nici un milimetru unul de altul se arată mai lung, mai anevoios, dar mai fascinant decât toate călătoriile mele prin lumea reală sau lumile virtuale străbătute. Sincer, mi se pare că informaţia în sine aş fi cumva chiar dator să o pun pe blog. Dar nimic mai mult.

Uite cum, fără să fi căutat să fotografiez ceva/pe cineva anume, ci doar comportându-mă ca un photoholic care hoinăreşte prin Londra, am reuşit să surprind două instantanee care mie îmi plac foarte mult cu britanice scriind – prima fiind mai degrabă modelul de femeie de afaceri fără suflet (din masa tot mai mare de corporate people, cu aceleaşi trăsături impersonale, trase la indigo, cam peste tot în lume), iar a doua – dintr-un model, să-i zicem, al studentei lipsite de griji (cam aşa arătau majoritatea studentelor de la US).

Deşi am lăsat-o mai moale cu blogging-ul (căci, la câţi cititori îmi spune counter-ul că mi-au mai rămas este doar un pic mai bine decât a scrie pentru a mă citi singur :-(, încă mai am multe fotografii şi lucruri de povestit în acest serial. Aş mai avea măcar vreo duzină de poze de postat/episoade de scris, înainte să am nevoie de o realimetare la faţa locului cu poveşti şi imagini. Însă numai Dumnezeu poate şti dacă, cât anume şi sub ce formă mă voi mai ţine de blogging.

Până atunci, iată aici o mică mostră că adolescentele britanice sunt chiar foarte drăguţe, aşadar imaginea cu care am deschis acest serial nu a fost o excepţie în privinţa a cee fete simpatice poţi găsi în UK.

Iar aceasta o spun pentru cei care continuă să rămână încremeniţi în prejudecata că britanicele sunt urâte, proaste, interesate doar de sex şi cumpărături, mai ales asaltaţi fiind de ştirile despre beţivele britanice – situaţie adevărată în sine, ceea ce nu exclude faptul că omul găseşte exact ceea ce caută, aşadar oamenii cu care interacţionăm sunt tot atât de buni şi de frumoşi precum gândurile noastre.

[Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la/For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to: Contents/Cuprins]